Day at the Zoo

Ray has the week off from work, so while Emmy was in school, we decided to take the boys to the zoo. We had a nice time, even though it was HOT. As much as I like summer, I am not really looking forward to super hot temperatures for the next 4-5 months. Anyways, the zoo was great, and we have lots of pictures to share!



My boys :)












An elephant (obviously)












Climbing on the elephant statue thingy
















Giraffes, getting fed














Aiden and I feeding a giraffe - they are so cool up close!








My favorite animals - the flamingo. Pink and so neat to watch.














Ruffled flamingo feathers. Cool photo. :)







Ray and Luke checking out an alligator










My Lukey on an orangutan.

Holiday Fun!

We have had lots of fun this month getting ready for the holidays! The first weekend of the month is our town's annual Christmas parade. The kiddos loved it!


Can you see anything coming yet??










Fire Truck :)








Watching the marching band










Cute Aiden, and big brother Luke too









Pretty Emmy









Daddy and Aiden :)










We also spent an evening at the zoo to see their Lights at the Zoo. It was freezing cold! We bundled up, got to see Santa, did a quick look at the pretty lights, and headed back to the car for some hot chocolate. The kids were excited to see Santa. Emmy was great, hopped right up on his lap, told him what she wanted. Luke thought he was ready.... until it was actually time for him to go up there, and he freaked out. :) It did make for some amusing photos though.

Day at the Zoo

The kids are definitely feeling better after the last several days of the flu... they were feeling better just in time to go to the zoo! Ray's work held a Fall Family Day at the Zoo today, and it was perfect weather - cool and sunny. We had a a great time, and Ray took a zillion pictures - a few cute ones of the kids.

Santa at the Zoo

We went over to the zoo last night for "Lights at the Zoo". It was a lot of fun, and our friends Dan and Jeana and their 3 kids ended up meeting us there, which was great!
The kids also got to see Santa, which went surprisingly well. I figured Pooky would absolutely freak out - but he didn't. He did want to show Santa his cars, which is what he is doing in all the pictures. But he did not cry. I was impressed. Emmy sat up there for an extra minute and told Santa what she wanted for Christmas, and she was very brave as well! A successful Santa visit!

Vaction Part 3 - Cedar Point and Cleveland Zoo

OK, hopefully this will be the last post about our vacation, as I am sure y'all are sick of hearing about it! ;)

The condo we stayed at on Lake Erie was right across the bay from Cedar Point - my most favorite amusement park EVER. I LOVE roller coasters, and it had been about 6 years since I was there last. My sweet and darling husband let me go, along with a few of his family members, while he stayed behind with the kids. I had an AWESOME time - I love that place! I didn't bring my camera, but I snagged a couple of photos from Ray's mom.

I went on this one (actually I think that is us, going up on the right side) - you go from 0-120 mph in 4 seconds, then straight up and back straight down. The whole ride is over in 12 seconds. CRAZY. Not sure how I liked going so fast so quickly - it was a weird feeling. And the fact that we waited an hour and a half to ride a 12 second ride doesn't quite seem right!





We went on this water ride, in which we got completely soaked. Fun times. I am in the back with my sunglasses on my head.




We went on many other rides as well, but I don't have photos. The Millenium Force is great and I have always liked the Raptor. We also went on several of the older, "lower-thrill" rides which are still a lot of fun.


On Wednesday, my SIL Francy and her daughter, along with my 2 kiddos went to the Cleveland Zoo. I was happy to go, since we get in free with our zoo's membership. It is a really big zoo, and I wish we had more time, we only got to see about 1/2 the zoo. It was also a chilly day, and a bit drizzly, but we still had fun.






Watching the elephants











Hippo












A lion, obviously. :)













The rest of the week for me was just spent relaxing, reading, and lounging by the pool. The long drives in the car with the kids really weren't too bad, although we did decide to break up the ride home over 2 days, stopping in West Virginia for a night.
Looking forward to next year's family "lake" vacation, wherever it may be!

Christmas at the Zoo

Last night, we went to our local zoo for their annual Christmas Lights celebration. We had a lot of fun, the lights were pretty, and the kids got to see Santa. This was Emmy's very first time seeing Santa - and she did awesome! She climbed right up in his lap and told him exactly what she wanted, and smiled for a quick picture. I also got a picture of Luke in Santa's lap. Emmy also had a lot of fun dancing around in the "snow" - which was actually soap foam blowing around. But, it is probably the closest thing she will see to snow until we go to Michigan (did I mention that it has been in the 80's all week??) Anyway, it was a fun evening.



Pretty lights!













Lights on palm trees













Emmy riding the carousel with Daddy














My big girl! "I want a xylophone!"













Pooky!